Look Ma! Look what I did!!

I canned. I am a virgin canner (and it showed) Note to self, next time you want to try something new, enlist someone who has at least an IDEA of what they're doing. LOL! Chris has canned a few times in our married life, so we have not been without the tasty delights, but I had never gone near it. In fact if you had told me a year ago that I would be canning for 2 days I would have called you a mental patient. Alas, we are now the proud owners of 35 pints of applesauce and 6 quarts of apple pie filling. I did pints for the applesauce because we are still a small, young family that don't go through most foods very quickly. I was merely thinking of usefulness. At least I got something right!!

So the good news is that I borrowed a friends 'sauce maker' which is the only reason that I am still mobile. I didn't have to core or peel the apples because it did it all for me, and yet I am still growing blisters on my fingers from cutting. Go figure. I did this for 2 days. Now had I been a seasoned veteran, these 35 pints might have taken a day, maybe a day and a half. For a novice such as myself, I'm lucky it didn't leak into day 3.

So after all this, I have compiled a small list for any novices out there who might be just learning themselves. I have also been thinking about a list comparing canning to having a baby... but I'll spare you on that list. LOL!

1. Buy all cans BEFORE starting and have them washed and sanitized - ready to go.
2. The canning water takes a good hour to boil. You might want to start this process before you are actually ready for it
3. Pack the kids a day pack of things to do. You will not be seeing them during the canning process. Playdates would be nice too.
4. Don't wear clothes that you like. You may not see them again either.
5. Keep bandaids close
6. Have a step stool nearby so that you can sit while washing or cutting. If not, wear your comfortable shoes... your VERY comfortable shoes.
7. After a long hard day, don't bother cleaning. Rinse the really bad stuff and leave the rest.
8. Don't invite friends over that night. They might accidentally walk in your kitchen
9. Accept the stickiness. Embrace the stickiness. Everything washes. And when in doubt, you can wash it twice
10. I wouldn't suggest learning to can in the summer. Your kitchen gets really hot and sticky. Although the sticky might be from the apples. Only time will tell.
11. Again, invite someone over who knows what they're doing
12. 8 hours of sleep. No less. 8 hours..
13. Plan something fun when its over for the kids to re-get to know you. For us, it was a "FUN" trip to Costco. (no really, thats where Eli wanted to go)
14. Last of all - don't look at another apple for at least 72 hours.



This is most of it. 2 of my apple pie fillings didn't seal (sob) and I had given away a couple applesauces.